The sinking of the Russian submarine, Kursk, in August 2000 attracted worldwide attention particularly when it became apparent that crew members may have been alive inside the submarine but were trapped in a rear compartment and could not be rescued. This was despite the vessel being at 108 meters, which is approximately within the maximum, human wet-diving depth of 100 meters.
The U.S. Navy has Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicles (DSRV), which may mate with submarine hatches to allow 5 or 6 crewmembers at a time to be removed from a submarine therein. However it is not known how many of these DSRV's exist or if they are positioned to allow them to be transported promptly to the location of a disabled submarine.
U.S. Navy submarines typically have three hatches, specifically one fore, one in the conning tower and one aft. The aft hatch is configured to attach an external vessel that Navy Seals may use for ingress or egress. The forward hatch contains the primary submarine escape vessel, a vertical tower, wherein individuals may enter and close the primary hatch, don a Stenke escape hood, flood with sea water, open the outer hatch, and “blow” their way to the surface when at 100 meters of depth or less.
Off-shore petroleum wells are developed at depths far exceeding the 108 meters at which the crewmembers of the Kursk perished. Further, drill ships for drilling undersea wells are positioned at various locations around the world.
Thus, a need exists for systems and methods for allowing underwater rescue of crew members from a disabled submarine which allows a rescue of the crew members within an acceptable time frame and at various depths.